John Arthur Hutchison: Do local voters care about GOP congressional primary?

It seems to me there might be more national interest in the Republican Party primary for Ohio’s 14th Congressional District than there is locally.
With just seven days to go before absentee voting ends and nine days until the May 6 primary election, some local county elections boards are reporting very low interest overall with what’s on the ballot.
There is no statewide contested candidate race really sparking interest, so usually the next high profile races would be those for Congress, state representatives and state senators and then county and local races.
Ohio’s 14th Congressional District consists of all of Lake, Geauga and Ashtabula counties, plus portions of Cuyahoga, Portage, Summit and Trumbull counties.
The two Republican candidates are incumbent U.S. Rep. Dave Joyce of Russell Township and state Rep. Matt Lynch of Bainbridge Township, who decided to run for Congress.
The winner of the primary would face Democrat Michael Wager of Moreland Hills and Solon Libertarian Dave Macko, who are both unopposed in their party primaries.
In Lake County, where there are the most registered voters in the district, absentee voting has been really light, prompting earlier projections for overall voter turnout of around 30 percent to be very optimistic.
Elections Board Director Arch Kimbrew said the turnout percentage will probably be somewhere in the twenties, especially since at this point he anticipated 4,500 absentee ballots to be cast, but the total is around 3,500.
Similarly in Geauga County, Elections Board Director Roberta Halford thought there might be 2,500 absentee ballots cast so far, but to this point only 1,496 have been requested.
Is it possible that voter fatigue may still linger from the 2012 presidential election, when the state and Northeast Ohio were constantly bombarded with attention and commercials by the candidates?
Another possible reason may be that this is a primary election where voters select the political party to which they want to belong or they can choose not to be affiliated and remain independent.
Nationally, the 14th Congressional District race has gotten lots of attention, with national groups like FreedomWorks, Right to Life, U.S. Chamber of Commerce and many others offering their endorsement and financial support of a particular candidate.
There could be a lot riding on this primary because the November race has the potential to be among the closest congressional races in Ohio and perhaps nationwide.
I guess the question is: Do local voters really care?

Survey says
A phone survey of 1,050 Ohio voters by Public Policy Polling shows the races for Ohio governor and Ohio secretary of state are close.
The survey was conducted April 14-15 and it’s worth noting that it was released by the Ohio Democratic Party.
Results indicate Republican incumbent Gov. John Kasich is tied with likely Democratic Party nominee Ed FitzGerald, with each receiving 44 percent and 11 percent not sure. Respondents were identified as 39 percent Democrats, 37 Republicans and 24 percent independent or other party.
The race for Ohio Secretary of State shows Democrat state Sen. Nina Turner leading 45-44 percent against Republican incumbent Jon Husted.

Omission
Last week, I left out Ron Graham, who was endorsed as “recommended” as part of Lake County Bar Association candidate endorsements. Graham is a Democratic Party candidate for Lake County Common Pleas Court judge.

About the Author

John is a veteran multimedia journalist who covers government and politics in Lake County. He loves running and Cleveland sports. Reach the author at jhutchison@news-herald.com
or follow John Arthur on Twitter: @newsheraldjah.